The year ahead is looking brighter for tenants looking for office space in Greater Boston, according to new report.

Boston’s total office vacancy rose to 17.4 percent in 2009 from 13.9 percent a year ago, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s recent analysis. Occupancy declined steadily in the Cambridge office market through the first half of 2009, ending the year with 534,423 square feet of negative net absorption. For the year, the suburban office market recorded 1.3 million square feet of negative absorption.

The only submarket to record occupancy gains for the year was the Northwest submarket. A recovery in the Boston Suburban market will lag Downtown Boston and Cambridge, JLL predicted.

Greater Boston recorded 3.7 million square feet of negative net absorption in 2009. The second half of the year showed the first signs of the recession easing its grip on the global economy, and the rate of decline eased, according to a report.

"A return to economic growth and an eventual recovery in the job market will slowly work to stabilize the office market, but conditions will remain tenant favorable throughout 2010," the report found.